The Mechanic
by Jenny123jenjen
Summary: It was just a week. A week until the repairs on the Polar Tang are finished. Yet, every day new secrets are uncovered. Law finds himself drawn into this mystery, and begins to realize he must solve it quickly. In the end, will Law escape unscathed, or will someone else die to protect his dream?
1. Chapter 1

Fury. That was the only way to describe Trafalgar Law's current state. Even coated in the blood of his enemies, he cursed himself over and over again.

He'd made a mistake. And it cost him. Dearly.

Now they were in the middle of the Grand Line, with a damaged hull and a dead lead mechanic.

They had been ambushed while relaxing on a tropical, deserted island. Law should have seen it coming, but he had been exploring a set of caves on the other side of the island. The opposing pirates weren't particularly strong, and the Heart Pirates had crushed them. Unfortunately, by the time they had the opposing captain had already ripped into their ship with his attack, leaving three huge scratches and crumpling the rudder.

The man who had built this ship, their lead mechanic, was a man who would protect this ship with his life. And he had done just that.

It was such a waste. No one else knew his ship like Krill. This had been the man's _baby_. Law had specifically sought him out as the only mechanic in the whole of the North Blue with the skill to bring Trafalgar Law's vision to life. He was a mechanic worthy of the future Pirate King, a man full of honor, dignity-

And now holes.

Not even Law could have saved him.

At least the caves had treasure. That combined with the treasure from the opposing pirates was enough to pay for repairs. Somewhere.

Fuck. They were in the middle of the Grand Line. He had a submarine. Not just any shipwright could work with a submarine. Submarines were a carefully guarded naval secret, a secret which Law had spent years developing, creating, and testing with Krill. Where was he supposed to find a mechanic worthy of touching his precious ship?

The heat of the sun did not calm his fury. It should have been raining. At least then it would wash away the blood. And guts. And brain matter.

This is not how he wanted his vacation to go.

"Captain."

Law turned to face one of the assistant mechanics, face blank. The man's face was streaked with grime and tears, his red rimmed eyes a clear indication of his grief.

"He… He left us something. Just… just in case."

The man was holding a box and a letter addressed to Law. Law took the package from the assistant's hands. "Thank you. Help Penguin with the fire." A fire to burn his mechanic's body. A funeral pyre. Law cursed himself again.

The assistant mechanic nodded stiffly before sniffing. He turned and left.

Law carefully opened the letter that was addressed to him.

 _Captain,_

 _I've instructed Marlin to give this to you if anything ever happens to me. In the box, you'll find an eternal pose, a letter of introduction, and schematics for the entire ship. The pose will lead you to Covetel, a small island in the Grand Line. Unlike Water 7 that caters to ships, they cater to mechanical advancements. I myself studied there for a time when I was younger — if you're especially lucky, my ass of a master will be alive (the letter of introduction is for him). Either way, that island will be your best bet._

 _It's been a pleasure serving you, Captain. Take care of my girl._

 _Krill_

Law folded the letter carefully, holding the box gingerly as the gift it was.

He truly was the best mechanic the future Pirate King could ever hope for.

—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—

It took a week of sailing to reach the port for Covetel. A week that fried Bepo's nerves. They had repaired the ship as best as they could, but the repairs would not hold through the rest of the Grand Line. He had breathed a sigh of relief when they finally docked on the island. His Captain had instructed Shachi, Bepo, Penguin and Marlin to split up and head to every warehouse, factory and workshop in the city to find a possible mechanic. They had taken copies of a couple of the ship's schematics in the case that they found anyone that might have the skill necessary to pull it off. Bepo had high hopes, seeing the mechanical marvels across the island: they had automobiles, motorized window displays and even a completely automatic planetarium that projected the stars on the walls.

Unfortunately, after three days, Bepo was starting to think that it would be impossible.

Every single master craftsman turned them away. A few had taken a look at the schematics, but his Captain had quickly pulled the pages out of their hands when they looked as confused as Bepo by the pages. Even Krill's former master was a dead end — literally. Bepo could tell that his Captain was as irritated as the mink was disheartened.

Bepo missed Krill. That man could make a working engine out of a bit of twine and a toothpick.

Bepo didn't want to return to the sub yet. He had finished scouring his section of the city, winding up on the very outskirts of town. After wandering among abandoned and empty warehouses for a while, Bepo had decided to take a rest and watch the waves of the sea. It was his favorite pastime, something that always calmed his heart. Some. It still ached. A week was not enough time for the grief to heal.

He was leaning against the wall of an abandoned warehouse as it poured, the waves angrily rolling beyond the dilapidated docks of this part of the island. Bepo had frowned when he first stumbled upon this area at the pure waste of it all — the entire city used it as a dump for everything from trash, to rotten food, to various mechanical pieces that were varying levels of smashed. Now, the pouring rain at least washed away the worst of the smell. Everything was washed to a muted grey tone.

"… A bear?"

Bepo jumped and squeaked loudly, turning to face the voice. There was a girl standing next to him, seeming as surprised that he had moved as he was that she had spoken. She held a comically large box in her arms — it looked like a steel woven basket that should have been far too heavy for such a tiny woman. It was hard to tell how old she was because she was so tiny. Her too-large overalls were black from the rain that soaked them, although Bepo couldn't tell what color they were supposed to be. She wore a black newsboy hat over shoulder-length, thick black hair. Her eyes were dark and olive shaped, her skin a few shades darker than his Captain's.

"… I'm sorry."

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT YOU TALK!" She almost dropped the basket, and the items inside it rattled over the din of the pelting rain.

"I'm sorry!"

She shook her head, clutching the basket tightly to her stomach. She fidgeted with the basket before speaking in a low voice, "No, it's fine. Are you… Um… lost?"

Bepo began to cry from his frustrations, bewildering the poor young woman. She sighed and scowled, shifting the basket in her arms again before gesturing at the bear with a tilt of her chin, a light blush painting her checks.

"Follow me this way. I can at least get you dry." Her voice was gruff and irritable as she spoke.

Bepo sniffed. "R-really?"

She huffed, before growling out, "Either follow me or not." She was clearly uncomfortable with the tears.

"Thank you! Ah! I'm sorry…"

"It's fine! And stop fucking apologizing!" She muttered darkly under her breath about talking bears causing her problems. She turned back as he started to follow her and pointed at him with her foot. "And don't even _think_ about stealing any of my shit, you… bear, you."

If Bepo could pale, he would. "Y-yes, ma'am!"

She nodded gruffly, before leading him down into the junkyard towards a single, broken down warehouse on the very edge of the water itself. After a ten minute walk, they reached the building, and Bepo wanted to question it's structural integrity. Instead, he politely followed the young woman inside.

The inside was just as dilapidated as the outside was. The warehouse was one meant for boats, as there were some docks on the back half that were covered as well. The front half was full of all kinds of junk it seemed, from tools haphazardly tossed around, to cabinets clearly patched with random materials, to piles of junk that may or may not have been assembled into strange contraptions, Bepo wasn't sure. The roof itself seemed like it was barely held together, and buckets around the room caught all the rain water —

Hold on. Did that bucket just move?

The young woman dropped her large basket of things, taking a seat on the ground and grabbing a few tools. She began pulling out and fiddling with the junk items almost reflexively as she starred at Bepo. Bepo held back another apology as he shifted from foot to foot, smoothing the creases in his uniform. Her suspicious gaze was uncanny.

"So. Are you really a bear?"

"Uh… Yes?" Bepo supposed that it was true enough. He was certainly more bear than she was monkey.

"How did you learn to talk?"

Bepo scratched his head. "My mom?" he responded, unsure of what else he should say.

The glare seemed to deepen as she pointed a wrench accusingly at him. She shouted, "But how the fuck did she learn how to talk!"

Bepo shifted again. "I, uh… see, I'm a mink. We all talk."

For a moment, he thought that something flashed across her eyes, but she buried it deep. She pulled the wrench back, once again pulling apart the thing in her hand — was it a piece of engine? — as she dismissively said "Oh. Okay."

"T… that's it?"

"Yep. I don't got any food, but you can stay until it's done raining. You'll be dry here."

Bepo glanced at the roof, unconvinced. "I'm not so sure…"

She snorted. "Of course you aren't. You got a better fucking option?"

Bepo shrugged. Rain had never bothered him. On the contrary, he rarely got wet all the way to the skin anyway as his thick fur coat was great protection. Still, it was kind of this young woman to offer him something so —

She had jumped up, putting the piece she'd been working on inside of one what looked like a heap of junk —

 _Until it moved._

For a moment, all it did was jiggle a little until the tiny woman smacked it with her wrench. A great whirling noise sounded as the machine suddenly flared into life. It picked up a nearby full bucket full of water, passing it gently to another machine. Suddenly, Bepo could see that all the piles of junk were actual working mechanical marvels as the bucket was passed down a line, dumped into an enormous pot of water two stories tall, and brought back to it's initial spot. For a moment, Bepo thought his jaw was going to reach the ground — this had been work far beyond anything he'd ever seen before. The navigator cautiously approached the closest pile of junk, which now looked something like a spider's leg. He turned back to the young woman to ask her about it, only she was gone.

She appeared again, climbing a ladder to get to the top of the pot of water — which now had a roaring fire under it — and dipped something into the water. She scrambled back down expertly, approaching the bear with another glare.

For a moment, the two stared at each other, the mink in admiration and the woman in suspicion.

"Here. I don't got tea, but it's warm." There was the barest hint of a blush on her dark skin.

Bepo blinked, before he apologized while accepting the now steaming cup of water.

He frowned. The fire only just started. There was no way that the whole thing of water should be this warm yet.

She was off again, grabbing a welding mask from a pile of junk and grabbing hold of another arm creation as it proceeded to shoot out blue flames, and she welding together more junk pieces.

For a moment, Bepo glanced suspiciously at the cup in in his hand before he took a quick sip. The water was pure and clean, which he hadn't expected from the rain water coming through the broken roof. He took a seat on the ground, watching the young woman as she scampered from one end of the warehouse to the other doing seemingly unrelated tasks involving mechanical marvels. The rain continued outside, adding a quiet tinking sound as the drops fell on bits of metal.

She was the one. He was sure of it.

—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—

Law held still, waiting on the edge of this godforsaken dock on the edge of town. The mist in the air was thick enough that it he could barely see the shore, let alone this stupid town.

Finally, _finally_ Bepo had found a mechanic. Law had faith in his companion, and had agreed to meet her at a place of her choosing. Bepo had been absurdly mysterious when talking about this mechanic he had found, which knowing Bepo could mean a couple of things. First, it could mean that Bepo was hiding something from his Captain. Knowing the honest nature of the bear it was unlikely. Second, it could mean that it was a trap, and Bepo had been forced to say those things to get Law alone. He highly doubted that one — they had several keywords and phrases planned for situations where one or more of them were in danger. Plus, his mink was hardly a pushover. The last option was that Bepo himself knew very little about this mechanic himself. Of all the possibilities, that was the most likely. Bepo was a great navigator and fighter, but give the bear a wrench and something was bound to break. Anyone who had even basic mechanical skills was greatly admired by the mink.

There, movement at the end of the dock. Law's eyes narrowed as he saw his navigator waving at him, a great big smile on his face.

There was no one else in sight.

Law sighed. The moment Bepo came in hearing range, Law called out to him. "So, this amazing mechanic of yours, where is she?"

Bepo blinked, and looked behind him. Law could hear a few hissed whispers before a foot stepped out slowly from behind Bepo.

Instinctively, Law clutched his nodachi tighter in his grip.

He hadn't sensed her.

She slowly stepped out from behind Bepo. Law was expecting her to act shy or coy based on the hesitation to appear in front of him. Instead, she glared at Law, stepping no closer than she had been. For a moment, they stared at each other, her gaze of suspicious anger, his of calculating coolness.

 _This_? This was Bepo's mechanic? She looked like she weighed 100 pounds soaking wet. Law couldn't tell her age — she looked like she was a young adult, but she was so tiny that she might have been a kid for all he knew.

Bepo hadn't noticed the animosity between his Captain and the girl, and had finished the approach. He saluted his Captain for a moment as Law fought to think of an appropriate response. Another moment of judgement, and Law sighed. Bepo had good judgement, he was sure.

"Captain, can I have the schematics pages? She wants to see those the most."

For a moment, Law glanced back at the girl. She still stood a good ten yards away from himself, glaring with he same intensity. Curiously, he looked again, and really looked at her.

There. She was specifically eyeing the sword in his hand. He shifted it, watching a slight tremble appear in her knees.

Ah. She was afraid. Ready to bolt at any moment. Law grinned for the first time since seeing her. It seemed his reputation proceeded him. He reached into his hoodie pocket, pulling out the few pages of schematics, waving them tauntingly. Her attention, before so focused on his sword, was caught by the papers in his hand. He held them out to her, his lazy grin lapping up her obvious internal struggle. Approach the terrorizing pirate and see the schematics, or lose out on this chance to see something amazing.

She took a step forward, gaze meeting his again in suspicion and rage. It was a good look, he supposed. It really brought out the fire in her coal black eyes.

Slowly, she stepped forward, clearly ready to bolt at the first sign of danger. Law noted that it wasn't just him that she was focused on. She glanced around repeatedly, clearly expecting an ambush of some kind. He almost threw the schematics at her. Seriously, if he was going to kill her, he would have done so already. He began doubting Bepo's judgement again, even as he held perfectly still as to not scare off his only potential lead in days.

She reached out, and slowly pulled the schematics from his hand.

This was it. Either she was worth it or a waste of his precious time. If she was a waste, he might kill her out of sheer frustration.

She slowly stepped back a few paces — Law noticed that they were angled to put Bepo between her and him — before she finally started reading the schematics.

He waited for a moment as she glanced over the pages. His smile grew as he saw a change in her. Where before her eyes held suspicion, now they held a tiny spark of glee and amazement. It was tiny. Anyone else might still only see the seemingly permanent scowl on her face. Law supposed that was reflex — mechanical work of this kind was typically done by men, mean that she probably acted tougher than she was as a defense mechanism.

He gave her another moment before he shifted. Instantly the suspicion was back.

"Well? Can you fix her?"

She glanced back at the schematics. "What's the damage?"

Law slowly reached back into his hoodie pocket and pulled out the damage report from his other mechanics. He held it out to her, and she again stepped forward to grab them. She moved quicker than the last time, but Law doubted it was an increased trust in him.

It was interesting he supposed that she trusted Bepo so thoroughly. She probably hadn't seen his wanted poster.

She glanced over the reports, then back at the schematics, before she spoke again.

"What the fuck did you do?"

Law bristled. She dared to talk to him like that? "I did nothing, but I assure you the one responsible was properly punished."

She nodded, seemingly unperturbed by the suggestion in Law's statement. He frowned slightly.

"Can you do it?"

She glanced back up at him, and then back at the paper. More internal struggle behind her eyes as she thought. She glanced back up at Bepo, then back to the schematics.

"Yes. For 1 million. I can do it in a week."

Law almost choked. That price was outrageous — one million?

"I am giving you any and all materials you need, as well as manpower. My mechanics are good, just not good enough to complete the job. One million is extortion."

"And yet you don't have any other options, do you? You're a pirate aren't you? Then my price really shouldn't come as a surprise."

Law almost snatched the materials back out of her hand. He growled under his breath. "500,000 beri. No more."

"Done."

Law knew that he had just been played. He grit his teeth. She rolled up the schematics, ignoring Law and ordering Bepo. "Bring her to the same warehouse I brought you to, the one with the docks. I'll meet you there in a few hours."

She looked back at Law. "And I don't need your mechanics. Ya'll can go take a vacation."

With that, the deal struck, she ran off into the mist, disappearing as quickly as she had appeared.

For a moment, there was silence between Bepo and Law. Law broke it.

"That brat just played us, didn't she?"

Bepo shrugged. "You should have seen it Captain — the stuff that she does with junk is beyond anything that Krill could have ever have done."

Law glanced back at his navigator in shock, then pensively back at the mist. That was high praise indeed.

"It's still coming out of your wages."

Bepo dropped his head. "Sorry…"

Law pulled out his den den mushi. "Penguin, tell the others — we found a mechanic. We can celebrate tonight. Have those needed to drive the ship meet Bepo on the deck for a debrief."

There was a whoop of joy before Law hung up. With any luck, if this mechanic was half as good as Bepo claimed, he would have her join the crew and payment would be moot anyway.

He smirked as he began walking towards the town. Finally, this island was looking a little less gloomy.


	2. Chapter 2

Bepo sighed from his spot on the floor, waiting for the mechanic to return and guarding the ship. He had sent away everyone else as she had requested, but he didn't understand why she didn't want anyone around. He was lonely.

Captain would never allow the ship to remain completely unattended in a stranger's hands, and she hadn't requested that he leave. So he had stayed. His fellows were celebrating back in town with women, booze, and each other, while he volunteered for guard duty.

He missed his friends. He supposed there probably weren't any female bears on this island or he would have found them by now, but still, he could use a beer.

Plus, she had made him wait for hours in the empty warehouse with nothing to do. It was well passed dark now, but he supposed the darkness was fairly comforting for him. Besides, he could see better in the dark than his fellows, and the breaks in the roof allowed for the limited amount of light from the distant city and the moon to trickle through.

Truthfully, Bepo was getting sleepy. He shook his head, gently slapping himself as he stood up slowly. At least this was a Fall island — nice and cold. He supposed a Winter island would have been too cold on the metal, but Fall was better than Spring or Summer. He took a seat again.

In the background was the gentle lap of the waves, and they lulled Bepo into a meditative state. He allowed his thoughts to pull him in whatever direction they chose, and he wiped a tear from his eye as he thought of the kind Krill. He sighed. If only Captain had stayed, they could have shared a glass of whiskey for the feisty mechanic.

"Something on your mind, Mink?"

Bepo jumped and let out a very undignified scream. She… she snuck up on him?

Seriously, who was this woman?

There was the sound of a striking match, and a lantern was lit.

Bepo flailed as he spoke. "Th-th-that's not fair! You snuck up on me!"

She coughed for a moment, shaking her head. "Yeah, luckily it was just me."

Bepo paled under his fur. Captain would have killed him if he died from an enemy attack because he was distracted. The young mechanic was crouched in front of him, her forehead wrinkled by her natural scowl. "Seriously though, you look tired. Go rest somewhere."

Bepo shook his head. "Captain would be very upset if I left the ship in the hands of a stranger, and you sent everyone else away."

She blinked for a moment before the scowl returned full force. "That ass. Here, take the lantern."

He took the lantern from her as she tossed off her hat onto the deck and tied up her hair in a bun. She shook off her boots and took few steps forward before she hopped onto the railing and promptly dived into the water.

Bepo jumped to his feet, almost dropping the oil lantern as he half stumbled and half ran to the railing. He held the lantern up as he searched the water for her, shouting, "Miss! Miss mechanic, are you okay?"

There was no response, but a very thick chain jiggled. Looking up, the chain was attached to the structure of the warehouse by a set up pulleys — a massive boat launch. Bepo blinked. Normally Captain just used his powers to get the Polar Tang into position. The last time that they had it strapped up was when the thing was being built, and it took the whole crew and then some to pull it up. Could the structure of this building even hold up the Tang?

What was this woman going to show him next?

He heard a splash on the other side of the deck, and ran back over. She had surfaced, breathing hard as she clambered up the rampart with the strap until she reached the chain pulley system. As soon as it was secure, she did another swan dive into the water. Bepo took look down the line — there were another four straps to go.

He continued to walk back and forth as the straps went into place. Then she pulled herself out of the water, heading to a corner with another large mechanical contraption. Unlike the other, this one was much larger.

Bepo called from his spot on the deck. "How are you going to pull this thing up? Should I call back the crew?"

She glanced at him, and then smirked. Bepo smiled — he knew that smirk. That was the same look that his Captain got on his face when he was performing surgery. It was rather comforting, he supposed.

She pulled hard on a chain, and a great whirling sound began again. This one was a much louder whirling sound, probably due to the fact that this mechanical contraption was so much larger. There was a stench in the air as black smoke billowed out from the top of the machine.

The chains began to move, and the ship rocked a little. Bepo held onto the railing at the front of the ship, terrified and worried as the straps closed in on his home. Slowly the Polar Tang began to rise from the water. His voice cracked a little as he shouted at the tiny woman, "You sure that our ship will be safe with straps, right?"

She shook her head, turning around and walking away. Bepo couldn't help the few tears falling from his face. He trusted her, sure — but this was still his home. It was all he had left from Krill besides a couple of birthday presents. He shook the tears away, willing himself to be stronger than this. He stood on the railing before jumping down to the docks to follow her. He took a glance behind him quickly to see the yellow ship slowly rising up out of the water. The mechanic appeared at his side again.

"Relax. I'll be gentle with her." Her voice was gruff, but another tear threatened to spill. Bepo sniffed, nodding.

"I-I know. It's just… my home…"

He sniffed, wiping tears away as he apologizing. She glanced at him before looking back at the slowly rising ship, shifting the tools on her belt. "Your guys put the materials I need out, I assume?"

Bepo sniffed again before leading her to the pile of steel plates and bolts that matched the rest of the ship materials. She inspected them over the roar of the engine and splash of water. After a while, she walked back towards the large engine and pulled a lever. The whirling died down and the ship stopped rising. It now sat comfortably in it's straps a few feet above the water. Bepo still fretted over the condition of the ship as the mechanic wandered towards the back end of the ship where the hull had been breached. She whistled appreciatively. "You were right. That's a nasty gash. Patch job is good."

A bit of fleeting pride stopped his tears finally — he had helped with the patch job. "Really?"

She glanced back at him, her gruff voice and scowl still in place. She looked back at the ship as she said, "Yeah. Good thing you brought it here though — the Grand Line would've sunk you if you'd let it go much longer."

Bepo held back tears again and nodded. He glanced at his toes, the lantern lowering slightly in his shame. If only he had been quicker to save Krill…

"…Well… I could use a hand."

Bepo glanced up shyly. "Really? I'm sorry…"

"Stop fucking apologizing!"

"I'm sorry…"

She groaned, smacking her forehead. As she rubbed her temples, she growled out, "Look, I know, it's your home. I'll fix it. I'll make her good as new. Just… stop crying, okay?"

Bepo burst into tears again, unable to stop them.

"Goddamnit, you fucking bear, quit crying!" She looked angry, but Bepo couldn't help it — she was so nice, and he had been through a lot over the last few days, and he was hungry, and he missed his friends —

She sat him down, muttering about inconsolable crybabies, and got him another glass of hot water to drink while she inspected the ship. She took the lantern away, climbing the rafters and using a line with a pulley to lower herself to the side of the ship to examine it closely.

Bepo didn't know when the thin and rather ragged looking blanket was placed around his shoulders. He blinked again, eyes unfocused as she bent the red hot metal around the hull of the ship. It seemed that last glance to know both ship and mechanic were all right were all he needed, as he soon fell into a deep sleep.

—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—

Law pushed the young, busty brunette against the wall as he ravaged her neck. He'd managed to find himself a woman who enjoyed it rough, which he had always considered to be a special treat. She moaned loudly as he continued his ministrations on her neck, working his fingers in intricate patterns around her breasts as she ground against him.

They were in his room at the inn. He had her pushed up against the wall as he finally sated his carnal desires. It had been too long since he had gotten to fuck anyone. Unlike some of the men on his ship, he simply wasn't interested in trading "favors" back and forth.

But this? God, she was sexy. All curves in a moaning mess as she quietly whispered his name. He grinned against her flesh, bending down to pick her up and slam her into the door while she wrapped her legs around his hips. That earned a particularly loud moan from her as her skirt bunched around her waist, giving Law easy access to tease and torment her.

As he continued to work on her body, a part of his mind detached to watch his surroundings. He had been a bit concerned about the deal he had struck with the young mechanic earlier that day — even though Bepo had volunteered to remain behind as she had sent everyone else away, Law was taking no chances. The rest of his crew was taking turns in shifts to watch the warehouse for any suspicious behavior.

Still, his transponder snail had made no noises, so he focused back on his task at hand.

Ah, there it was. He had been fingering her while nipping at her neck, and he found her g-spot. He slowed his pace, teasing it so she knew he found it without fully exploring it. Instead, he focused on the rest of her body, switching to a slower pace as he left a trail of bruises down her chest and breasts. He smirked again as she began begging him, rolling her hips to try desperately to get more of that glorious friction that she so desired. "As you wish," he breathed huskily into her ear, and he sped up his ministrations and hitting her pleasure spots with precision.

That mechanic was certainly one to watch — Law had taken a look at the dump she called home. He was half convinced that all of the "inventions" were things she had stolen, or knock-offs someone else had thrown out. What kind of mechanic couldn't even fix a tin roof? How would she be capable of welding his ship perfectly if she couldn't even manage her own place?

Law stopped his ministrations, pulling his hand out suddenly and dropping the woman to her shaky legs. She let out a whine, begging him to continue. He grinned, pointing to the bed. She walked over shakily as he dropped his pants. He had purposely ended her fun before she managed to cum.

What was that, by the window? For a moment, he focused his observation haki on that spot — but it was just another amorous couple heading to their own location.

She sat on the bed, beginning to spread her legs. But Law grabbed her, grinned, and flipped her over onto her knees instead. He took moment to put a condom on while he played with her clit before positioning himself.

He had damn good aim, and he was going to hit her g-spot on the first try, he just knew it.

By this point she was already begging again, rolling her hips and positioning pillows comfortably underneath her front.

He supposed he should stop worrying about it. He'd drop by the warehouse tomorrow and check in on Bepo with Shachi and Penguin. If the two young mechanics weren't pleased with her work, he'd just kill her.

It was with that thought that he slammed into the woman before him, eliciting a scream of pleasure. He was glad he had turned her around, because surely the grin on his lips would have terrified the woman. His thoughts narrowed again as he dismissed his worries, focusing only on his surroundings and the screaming woman in front of him. He had been attacked while in the throes of passion before, including once from the woman he was bedding, but he had always managed to kill any attacker before they managed to hurt him. This time would be no exception.

—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—

Law had woken up both mechanics for some early morning training, and took some particular joy in their suffering. Neither had the skills to do full, high quality work needed for the grand line, but their skills in more deadly arts more than made up for it. Law was particularly enjoying teaching them to control observation haki as it gave him a chance to hit them both. Either man was mischievous by himself, but both men together was a recipe for wicked pranks that Law often had to punish.

And what better way to punish them than to wake them up early and hit them repeatedly until they threw up?

Plus, the two men against Law gave him a chance to practice his own combat. Bepo was a much stronger opponent, but he had not returned last night and the mink had enough on his plate trying to guard their ship.

After a few hours of beating Shachi and Penguin in the early morning light, they separated to get cleaned up and then met in the lobby to go inspect the ship. Law picked up some pork buns for Bepo while the other two took their sweet time showering. After a moment to gather themselves and for Law to adjust his hat and nodachi, they were off.

The sun was actually shining today. It seemed that the rain the day before had rid the island of it's usual gloom. The air still had a chill to it, as fall islands often did. Law breathed in the fresh air for a moment as he was distinctly reminded of home in the North Blue. As they approached the warehouse, Shachi ran up and knocked on the door. It was a moment before Bepo answered the door.

The door groaned with rust and age, and Bepo poked his head out. "Hello, Captain," he said. Immediately, Law was put on edge. He gripped his nodachi tightly as his body tensed. Bepo sleepily rubbed his eyes, a blanket in his arms. He yawned, but then caught Law's eye. For a moment, Captain and Navigator stared at each other. His navigator began to sweat profusely.

"I-I'm sorry, Captain!"

Law didn't hesitate, pushing passed Bepo in his rush to check on his beloved ship as he entered the warehouse.

There she was, his home — she was strapped in a large boat launch, seemingly in one piece, at least from this angle. Law sighed. Honestly, he should have known better than to leave Bepo by himself to guard the ship. Bepo had been exhausted from their trip, and he'd been working tirelessly to find a mechanic. Law put his hand in his back pocket as he thought.

Besides… Krill had always had a special place in Bepo's heart.

Speaking of his navigator, he seemed like he was crying behind Law.

"Bepo, take a rest. Shachi's got food for you. I got you seal buns."

Law grinned a little as he heard a little gasp. He knew the mink too well to need to look over his shoulder and see the mink's shining eyes. There was the distinct sound of plastic moving and Bepo chowing down on the buns while Law looked around for this mysterious mechanic.

There was a clatter in the distance, and Law caught the mechanic's gaze. She glared at him, before suspiciously eyeing Shachi and Penguin. Law heard the two behind him begin bickering, and he held a hand to his temple. For a moment, he could feel the beginnings of a headache.

"Bepo, you've been holding out on us —"

"Who knew our new mechanic would be so cute—"

"What's her name, Bepo—"

"Hey, I spotted her first dimwit—"

"Who are you calling dimwit, asswipe—"

"I believe that's what your mom called you growing up—"

"Fuck off, I—"

Law tuned out their bickering, watching the mechanic's reactions with curiosity. She remained frozen in place, her eyes switching between the three of them. He couldn't tell at this distance what she was thinking, but again he got the feeling that she was about to flee.

"Shachi, Penguin," he ordered quietly. "Go inspect her work while I talk to her. Bepo, you check the inside."

"Rodger!" they all shouted simultaneously. Law never took his eyes off her as the completely unaware duo happily approached the ship, winking at her and continuing to bicker at each other. Bepo looked depressed, apologized again, and followed closely behind, still munching on his breakfast. Both mechanics would inspect the inside and outside of the ship in terms of structural integrity and signs of sabotage, while Bepo would check to make sure nothing major was missing. She backed away from the group as they walked towards her, crossing to the other side of the warehouse without flinching her gaze.

He still got the impression that she was ready to run. He approached her, hand in his back pocket as he touched the scalpel that he always had handy. He wasn't known as the "Surgeon of Death" for nothing, after all.

As the other three disappeared into the ship, she switched her focus back to him as he approached. He got within ten yards before she started stepping back. He stopped, addressing her evenly. "So. Bepo fell asleep."

She nodded.

"He was supposed to be guarding you. And the ship."

She shrugged. "I didn't tell no one it was here. Did you?"

Law's mouth twitched. This tough girl act was starting to annoy him. It was clear that she hiding something. Law grinned lazily at her.

"I don't care what you're hiding, _mechanic_ , so long as it means that my ship and my people are safe. But—" He leaned in slightly. "If you harm one hair on Bepo's head—"

She practically snarled at him, "I'd never, you pompous asshat. Go fuck yourself with a rusted pipe — I don't give a damn about your bullshit threats."

For a moment, the pair glared at each other as Law wrestled with his anger and searched her eyes. There was a strength behind them as coal eyes had turned obsidian in her rage. Satisfied, he straightened. "Good. I'm glad we're on the same page." He was done losing crew members. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost Bepo.

"Captain!"

Speak of the devil. The mink man landed besides Bepo on the dock, and smiled. "Nothing taken, Captain."

He smiled at Bepo. "Well, mechanic, it seems like you haven't stolen from us tonight—"

"Captain!" This time it was both Shachi and Penguin. They also leaped and landed next to Law on the dock. There was the sound of gentle lapping of water as they smiled.

"Captain, you should see it —"

"It's amazing what she's done—"

"Has she really been working by herself —"

"Krill would've approved—"

At this point, the excitable men turned to the mechanic in question, and began barraging her instead.

"Did you really do it by yourself—"

"What's your name, cutie—"

"Who was your teacher—"

"Can you teach us—"

"Do you have a boyfriend—"

"Why are you grabbing that machine—"

The eccentric heart pirates had unknowingly backed the mechanic into a corner, and she had grabbed on of the many piece-of-junk machines around her. Bepo was the first to move, pulling back the other two and hitting them hard on their heads. They turned to yell, and he immediately apologized. The clearly bewildered mechanic lowered the arm, and Law released the room he had begun to summon.

His eyes narrowed. Bepo pulled the two assistant mechanics away, and began lecturing them on manners while apologizing every other word. The young woman watched them, slowly relaxing and stepping away from the machine. She caught Law's gaze, and he smiled at her. "You'll have to excuse my crew members. They mean no harm, they're easily excited. It seems that you'll be worth the price I'm paying to get that high of praise from them."

She nodded stiffly. "I… I have to go now. I'll be back tonight."

Law nodded, and she turned, one eye watching the other heart pirates and one on the Captain as she slinked away.

Interesting.

He took a walk around the dock to observe the damaged hull as he thought about this latest encounter with this new mechanic. This behavior clarified a lot of things about her. He had been wrong to assume that she was scared of him because of his reputation — she was just as scared of beavis and butthead as she was of Law himself. The way that she had grabbed that machine seemed like she was preparing to defend herself against inevitable attack, even though it was clear that neither Shachi nor Penguin had the face or intention of an attacker.

And there was the other thing… She didn't tell anyone that she had the ship. A ship in an abandon warehouse, at the edge of town. A valuable ship. He examined the tail of his ship from the dock. It was clear she had a ways to go — but what she had accomplished he could only tell due to the difference in paint color. Somehow she had begun seamlessly fixing the hull. He glanced back up at the roof. The broken roof. Clearly, she had the skill to fix it.

There was more, too. All of these piles of junk were exactly that — junk. Junk that she had collected and made into working, functioning machines that were clearly incredibly powerful, but upon first glance still looked like piles of _junk_.

Bepo was right. She was at least as skilled as Krill, but she worked faster. All of this work in one night.

He frowned again. She would be back that _night_. She had worked the night before. The crew members who had warehouse watching duty last night had claimed that there weren't even lights visible from the warehouse. Initially he had assumed that she had left because of their presence, or to get some sleep. Was he wrong?

She was clearly afraid of something. The question was, what?


	3. Chapter 3

The bar was lively that night. Law sat in a corner while his crew spread out across the establishment in varying levels of a party mood. There were noticeably more women this round, and a good portion of them were eying him like a piece of meat to be eaten. Apparently, word traveled fast. The brunette from the night before had also come back for seconds, although Law was less inclined for a second round. As fun as she had been, a second night usually meant they developed feelings, and feelings were messy.

Shachi and Penguin weren't around, meaning that the bar was quieter than the night before, although that wasn't saying much. At least there weren't two drunk mechanics dancing on the top of the tables, loudly singing that damned engineers drinking song again. He had anticipated this, and they had warehouse watching duty tonight.

No Bepo again, but the bear had seemed happier to wait behind this time. It seemed that he was getting rather attached to the mechanic working on their ship. Law knew it was only a matter of time before the bear asked Law to bring her into the crew, and despite her seeming attachment to the mink from his descriptions, he highly doubted that she'd accept.

He would have to find out more about her. It was possible that there would be a way to convince her by the end of the week, and Law had every intention of finding it out. Between Bepo's thorough reports and his own deductions, he was positive that the woman was in fact a greater engineer than Krill could ever have hoped to be.

Law carefully sipped his beer, a lazy grin on his face as he watched a middled aged man take a seat opposite of him.

"So, did you find someone?"

This was Krill's former teacher's son, Graham. The man unfortunately had no aptitude for mechanical engineering, instead starting his own rather well-known bakery in town. When at least half of the people were involved in engineering in one way or another, food services became a much more profitable profession. There wasn't exactly much competition.

Law nodded, and the man visibly relaxed. "Great. I was disappointed when none of my recommendations worked out. Who is it?"

Law reached into his pocket, pulling out a slip of paper where Shachi had drawn a sketch of her. Shachi was a surprisingly good sketch artist. "This is her."

The man reached for the paper to examine it closely. For a moment, nothing happened. Law watched him carefully, noticing every tick as the man examined the paper. To his disappointment, the man handed it back without a spark of recognition.

"Hm. Never seen her before. What's her name?"

Law folded up the paper, putting it back into his pocket before he answer. "I don't know. She can do the job, and that's all the matters."

"Huh. And here I thought I knew at least the faces of all the masters in town. Maybe she's new?"

Law shrugged. He didn't want to give too much away, after all. "Perhaps."

"Well let's have a drink to that, at least!" the man exclaimed, happily waving the bartender over and buying himself a beer as well.

Damn. Another dead end. He glanced back around the bar. The last thing he wanted to do was go around flashing Shachi's sketch in everyone's faces, but he could still pick up some information. He caught Quilo's eye from across the room, and made a minute gesture with his wrist indicating that he wanted to speak to him later. After they had both sated their carnal desires, of course. He eyed a blonde for this round, a slight smirk on his face.

—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—

It was probably around three in the morning when Quilo finally made an appearance in Law's room. The man entered unannounced, the door shutting silently behind him.

Quilo was a thin man in his late twenties, with long, dark hair always tied into a low pony-tail. He was flamboyantly gay, and often the center of attention wherever he went — but previous to joining Law, he was one of the deadliest assassins in the North Blue. Most people didn't equate flamboyance with intelligence, or even with ears. Plus, he was extremely well connected. Among his many duties, Quilo was the best intelligence gatherer of all the Heart Pirates.

The man in question now approached Law before he leaned against the wall next to Law's bed.

"Any news, Quilo?"

The other man chuckled. "Samei finally lost his virgin card. Minnow got in a fist fight — seemed like a guy in with the local mafia who didn't realize that there were powerful people outside of it."

Law shook his head. "Any damage?"

"Just a table and the other guy. You know Minnow, the big guy can take a punch."

Law smiled to himself. Despite his name, Minnow was a rather large, brunette man. Krill used him for heavy lifting in the engine room.

"So why the late night call, Captain? Not that I don't love you, but from the smell of the room I don't think you're asking for the same thing I usually do on a late night call to handsome young men."

Law ignored the innuendo and fished out the sketch from his shirt pocket. "I want you to see if you can find anything out about this woman."

Quilo frowned as he stared at the sketch. "Does she have a name? Or anything else to go on besides Shachi's sketch work?"

Law's mouth twitched. "She's the mechanic working on the Tang."

Quilo glanced up at Law, clearly taken aback. He took another look at the drawing in his hand. "I'll do what I can, Captain. I hear she's done a quality job so far."

Law nodded. "So far. Graham has never seen her before, but she's clearly a master. And there's more… the woman has snuck up on me. Bepo as well."

Quilo grinned. "Did she now? Any chance she can teach me that trick?"

Law scoffed. "You do well enough on your own, Quilo. But I have an inkling that we'll be wanting her along as a crew member, and you know how I feel about surprises."

"That you love them and you wish you got one every day?"

"Begone, foul beast," Law stated blandly, dismissing Quilo. The other man jokingly bowed before tucking the picture in his boiler suit pocket and leaving Law in his room.

With any luck, Quilo would find out more about this woman's past. For now, Law turned out the lights and tried to sleep. Tomorrow, he'd need to slowly begin a desensitization process. If he was going to win her over, she was going to have to get used to him and his crew.

—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—

This time, Law didn't wait to make his appearance at the warehouse.

Law woke up early, as per usual. He rarely slept longer than a few hours, particularly when he was not on his ship. He stopped by a food stand as the sun began to rise, and bought more seal buns for Bepo. The rocky island had a particularly large seal population, so much of their food was made with seal meat. He ordered a coffee from the lady, as well as some more food for himself and the young mechanic. She had been rather thin in the face, and Law wasn't sure that it was a natural thinness.

The morning was chilly, the air fresh from the morning dew. Although the red and yellow streaks from the sunrise colored the city, there were ominous storm clouds to the north. Law pulled his hat down further on his head, avoiding the few people out at this early morning hour as he made his way to an alleyway. Rather than walk the distance, once he was in the alleyway Law began teleporting himself down to the junkyard, and then into the warehouse itself.

There was a gasp and the sound of steel dropping to the ground as he found himself face to face with his new mechanic. He had accidentally teleported himself to within two feet of the woman, and she had dropped the comically large steel plate to the ground, holding her arms up to defend herself.

He took a moment to appreciate the size of the piece of steel. She was far stronger than she looked, because the panel was bigger than she was. Turning back to her, he saw she had quickly stepped back, arms in front of her face in a defensive position, chest heaving in panic.

For a moment, Law's eyes narrowed, before he sighed. "Relax. I would be an idiot if I even entertained notions of hurting the person who is fixing my ship." Glancing around, Law pretend to ignore the young woman as he found Bepo. The mink man was asleep again, sleeping on the warehouse deck with what looked like a ragged blanket pulled over him.

"… You do realize that Bepo has a fur coat and doesn't get cold, don't you?"

Here breathing hitched for a moment. Then she growled under her breath. "Fuck off, I didn't— he— I was just—"

Law smiled at her. "Thank you."

With that, he left the mechanic sputtering in her confusion and gently prodded Bepo awake. He hadn't missed the darkened blush on her cheeks when she was trying to spout off an excuse. Having gotten a close look at her, he was glad he brought seal buns for her as well. He was right in his assertion that she was too thin. It was hard to tell with the overalls that covered her from her wrists to her boots, and her natural curls puffed out underneath the hat giving her head volume. If he was lucky, giving her food out of the goodness of his heart combined with a few nice words would make her more likely to join his crew.

Bepo started awake, and immediately began to cry apologies for having fallen asleep again. Before he could finish his sentence, Law shoved a seal bun into his mouth, effectively silencing him. Law took a sip of his coffee, before finding a comfortable place on the ground besides Bepo. He gave Bepo the bag of his share, before grabbing out another bag and holding out to the indignant mechanic.

"Here — I brought you breakfast."

For a moment, she didn't move. She eyed the bag, clearly torn between suspicion and hunger. Law shook the bag. "It's for you, Mechanic."

Bepo swallowed his bit, and waved her over. "Come on! Come eat with me! Ah, sorry…"

She glared at the bear for a moment, and he apologized again. She smacked her palm on her face with a frustrated groan. Clearly, she was as frustrated by the minkman's apologetic nature as Shachi and Penguin.

She began to inch over, and slowly took the bag from Law's hands. He slowly and deliberately lowered his hand, opening his own bag and beginning to munch on a seal-rice ball he had gotten himself. After a moment of hesitation and Bepo's encouraging pats, the girl tucked herself underneath one of her creations, close enough to Bepo that she was a part of the group while simultaneously being as far as possible from Law. In response, Law pretended he was interested in nothing more than chewing his food and drinking his coffee.

It took a few moments, but she finally relaxed enough to actually eat her food. Law thought carefully while he ate. He had been right to assume that it was not just him that she'd been afraid of. Her reaction when he had appeared reeked of abuse. Looking back on all of their previous reactions, they all did.

This meant two things. First, it meant that she figured violence from other people — potentially adult males specifically — was a matter of course. This explained why she wouldn't get near them. And whatever abuse she had sustained, it had not broken her spirit; that accounted for her tough-girl act. It also accounted for why she was okay with Bepo, who was not a human male. The second thing it meant was that it was possible that with some work, he could tame her. And that if she could be tamed, she would become one of the most loyal members of his crew.

He would have to tread very carefully.

"Bepo, how was the night shift?"

The bear swallowed, and then saluted his Captain. "Everything went smoothly, Captain! She's really good at her job, she doesn't even need my help."

Law nodded. "I've noticed. Maybe you are worth the price I'm paying." He directed this to her, but took care to seem as if he was more interested in drinking his coffee than he was in speaking to her.

"So, Mechanic… how old are you?"

She munched on her bun, glaring at him. For a moment, she did nothing besides chew.

"Yeah, I'm curious as well," said Bepo. Her gaze shifted back to the bear, who immediately apologized. Law tried to appear as uninterested in her as possible.

"… I…" she began, with another suspicious glance at Law. He took another bit of his rice bun. "… I'm eighteen."

Law nodded. "You're incredibly talented for your age. I'm curious — who was your teacher?"

She blinked, clearly confused at his compliment. She said simply, "… He died. A long time ago."

Law nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry to bring it up, then." He turned back to Bepo, and began discussing where they would go after this island.

"Well we can take the log pose direction from this island, or we can use one of my eternal poses to go somewhere, Captain."

Law weighed his options for a moment. "Well, that depends. Without an onboard mechanic of the same caliber as your friend here, Jaya might be a good bet. Or Water 7."

She shifted, and Law turned back to her, slowly, before he spoke. He made sure he placed each word carefully. "I can't just expect you to leave your friends or family behind and join us."

Bepo whined. "But Captain! I-"

"No buts, Bepo. I would never take an unwilling passenger away from their home." Bepo looked dejectedly towards the mechanic, before apologizing. Law went back to his food. "Personally, Water 7 seems like the best option. Do you have an eternal pose for there?"

Bepo nodded, clearly depressed. Law stole a glance at the mechanic. It was clear the wheels in her head were turning, but it wasn't clear in which direction they went. He didn't risk her noticing him looking at her, so he pulled out a book from his pocket, and began reading.

"Bepo, tonight I'll take over warehouse watch. You should sleep in a decent bed for once."

The mechanic stood abruptly. Law glanced up at her, frowning. "You won't deny my chief navigator the chance to rest and visit with his friends, would you? You already know I won't hurt you. To be fair, I'm better at staying awake than he is, and I have some work I need to do anyway."

He presented the argument as evenly and logically as he could, putting particular emphasis on the parts of her denying Bepo his time off. For a moment, she glared, before she glanced down at the bag of food she was holding. Law frowned for the first time, as he realized she hadn't finished.

"Finish all of those. I'll bring you more later."

The full suspicion was back. "Why?" she asked sharply.

"Why what?"

"Why are you giving me food? Asking me questions?"

Law thought for a moment, propping his chin onto his hand. "I'm a doctor. I take care of the health of everyone. I'm giving Bepo a day off because he needs one in order to remain healthy. I asked your age because it's relevant to how much you should be eating. It's clear you've missed meals, so I'm providing you food to make sure you don't faint on the job."

She didn't look convinced, and opened her mouth to argue. Law held up a hand, "Stop. Bepo is my crew member, and as such I take care of him as he takes care of me. I couldn't get far without someone to navigate this ocean, and any ship needs a doctor to treat wounds and illnesses. You may not be our ship's mechanic, but you're still taking care of her. The least I can do is feed you."

Her eyes narrowed. "You're already fucking paying me. Those buns better not have come out of what you owe me."

Law glared. "I may be a pirate, Mechanic-ya, but I'm not a fool. You'll get every beri I promised as soon as the Polar Tang's repairs are completed. If I wanted to cheat you, I would have promised you the one million you asked for."

She considered this for a moment, before she looked back at the bag. Law went back to his book, and made it his goal to not look at her again. There was a slight pause before he heard a crinkle of paper that singled she had reached into the bag, and the sound of chewing as she hungrily ate the last bun.

While she ate and eyed Law, Law considered all of the new information this morning had brought him so far. A part of his mind ran over her every minuscule reaction to every word, while the rest of his brain focused on reading about a few new treatments for chronic heart conditions.

Clearly she'd been abused, but he doubted it had been her whole life. She had too much spunk for that. And based on how she was treating the food he gave her, it was possible that she was still in that abusive situation now. That certainly explained why she only worked at night, as well as why Graham hadn't known her. If she was in an abusive situation, it was possible that the abuser kept her hidden from the rest of the town.

It would also mean that it would be more difficult to convince her to leave with him than he thought. He was glad he dropped the hint of her being welcome aboard his ship so early. If he hadn't, she might not have enough time to process the possibility before they left this damned island. As it was, he needed to give her as much time as he could. Those in abusive situations were sometimes rather difficult to convince to leave those situations — it was the nature of abuse. Furthermore, she needed time to scope out his crew and realize that they were harmless.

There was the sound of the bag being crumpled, and the young woman pocketed it.

"I'll be back tonight to work on the ship."

Without looking up from his book, Law nodded. There was no sound, and Law couldn't sense her leaving. Then again, he hadn't sensed when she was around either. Still, he had a feeling that she was gone now. He dismissed Bepo to the town to enjoy his day off and inform both Shachi and Penguin that they would have to come to the warehouse for training.

It was interesting to note that she had said her master had died, and long ago. She was clearly a prodigy and genius if he'd ever seen one, and that meant that whatever abusive situation she was in, it was possible that she still managed to teach herself most of what she knew. He had certainly done that in regards to his skills as a doctor, it was possible that she had done so for engineering. Far more likely, in fact. It was easier in a town like this to find mechanical pieces to toy with than humans to dissect.

There was also her strength. That steel plate she had been holding had to have been at least 500 pounds, yet she had been carrying it by herself when he had warped into the warehouse. How the hell was she being abused when she was that goddamned strong?

Law continued to read for another hour before getting up and going to his office. In truth, he needed some time to himself. He was expecting a call from one of his agents soon regarding Doflamingo's dealings, information that his crew was not privy to. Even Quilo did not know about Law's plans to destroy the Shichibukai, or if he did, he kept his mouth shut.

As he opened the door to enter in his sub, he thought more about the mysterious mechanic. He hoped that Quilo would find the answers he was looking for soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Law rubbed his eyes. He was sitting behind his desk, several binders sprawled out in front of him. He'd just spent the last few hours decoding messages and trying once again to work out Doflamingo's schemes to no avail. Each binder had a specific purpose — one contained information on rival pirates, another for bounty hunters, another for marines. Then there was the personal journal with which he wrote all of his personal notes, written in a code he had devised himself. There were more binders, of course, but they rested on the shelves to the right of his desk.

His rooms were the largest on the ship, sitting on the top level. The first level of the submarine was dedicated to his rooms, his operating theater, the "Freezer" as it was aptly named, and the officer rooms. His suite consisted of a large office, a bedroom, a large closet, and his own personal bathroom. Originally, he had planned on a much smaller suite for himself, but Krill and the others had splurged, going so far as to carpet the whole interior. Although initially upset, he had slowly become increasingly grateful for their indulgence. His office had two couches surrounding a large, dark wood coffee table that could extend when needed. This served as the conference room for the officers on the ship, which was useful. His extensive book collection could not fit in this room alone, however, so he did have books scattered throughout the submarine. The shelves in his office were neatly kept and had a railing in front of them in case of turbulence. These books were limited to binders containing reports, maps, books on travel, some of his medical books, and his mystery novels for those rare moments of downtime.

He glanced at the clock on the edge of his desks, and realized that the young woman had to have returned by now. Deciding abruptly that he needed some fresh air, Law grabbed a new medical journal he had bought yesterday as well as the plate Couri had prepped for him and headed out his door, down the hall, and onto the deck.

Taking a moment to stretch, Law walked over to the railing and leaned over. The warehouse was dark, and he took a moment to adjust his eyes while he carefully observed the movement below. It seemed that this mechanic preferred working in the dark. Law digested this for a moment, as it only seemed to fuel his theory that she was hiding this place from her abuser. In fact, he'd been considering the possibilities of what this woman was all day. Law liked puzzles, and she was a big one. He'd already figured out the abusive nature of whoever was caring for her, but that only seemed to solve the puzzle of her size, nothing else. Her diminunative stature was most likely the result of not getting required nutrition at key points in her development.

Speaking of nutrition, he called out to her.

"Mechanic, I've got the promised meal."

There was a pause in the movements from down below, and Law held out the plate. He assumed she must have better night vision that he did, to be doing high level mechanical restoration in the dark. "I'll leave it on the deck. I don't know if you are part cave animal, but I'm turning on the deck lights to read for a bit."

With that, he turned to the hallway for the switch just inside the door. With a quick flick, the lights of the deck illuminated the dirty area around him, and he blinked at the sudden change in brightness. He turned around to see her standing on the deck behind him, eying the wrapped plate in his hand.

"Our chef insisted on cooking for you this time," said Law blandly. "Our previous mechanic was a good friend of his, and he wanted to thank you for restoring our home."

She scowled. "I ain't done yet."

Law sighed. "It doesn't matter. I'm only passing the message along. Here, take it – there's utensils on the plate under the wrapping."

She paused, sizing him up. He frowned, then looked at her hands.

"On second thought, don't eat yet. Go inside and wash your hands first."

That clearly sent her off balance, and she took a step back. "… I've got my own sink."

"Good. Go do that and come back here to eat. I'm gonna read for a bit."

He stepped off to the side, leaned against the wall of the sub as he sat, and placed the plate on the deck next to him. Far enough away that she wouldn't have to be too close, and close enough that it didn't seem like he was trying to accommodate her. He pulled out his journal and focused on making sure that he seemed entirely focused on reading. She hesitated a moment longer before abruptly turning and jumping off the edge of the deck.

Inwardly, Law smirked. Seriously, he needed to know how she did that trick. She just jumped about twenty feet at least without making a sound. The wheels began turning in his head, and he continued to work at his theory he'd come upon this afternoon.

She was erasing her presence or suppressing it somehow. That combined with her enormous strength pointed to being a haki master on top of being a master mechanic. In a way, it made sense as if she could erase her presence she was less likely to be found by her abuser when she didn't want to be found. It also accounted for working in the dark. Bepo had said that any mink child could easily find their way around blind-folded in a strange place, let alone a familiar one. However, mink children were raised to be haki masters, human children were not.

But then again, according to Bepo she hadn't seemed surprised when he said he was a mink. A secret race of peoples that few in the world should know about, particularly not a sheltered child in an abusive situation.

This only raised more questions.

The woman in question returned, and slowly grabbed the plate from Law's side. As she backed away, Law spoke softly, keeping the majority of his attention on his book.

"What's your name? I'm rather tired of just calling you 'mechanic' as I have several others that already respond to that title."

"And clearly they do a bang-up job for you to come looking for me."

"There is a difference between a master and an assistant. Now again, do you have a name or should I make one up for you?"

Law kept his eyes on the book, even going so far as to turn a page so that she couldn't tell how focused he was on this conversation.

She surprised him, taking a seat next to his sprawled-out legs and facing him. Law looked up from his book, into eyes that were clearly analyzing him as he had been analyzing her.

She spoke softly, her scowl becoming less pronounced as there was a slight downward pull to her lips. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."

He blinked, and she rolled her eyes, the brief emotion gone. "Shakespeare, asshole. I don't got no name. Orphaned, abandoned, no fam. So no name."

He frowned. She was breaking out of every box she had put her in. It wasn't possible that she was quite this relaxed with him, not with her background and every other previous interaction they've had.

Or was it?

Had his strategies already succeeded?

He dropped the book to his lap as he studied her, making not effort to conceal what he was doing this time. She seemingly ignored him as she unwrapped her plate and dug into the fried rice. Watching her closely, he could tell that her body was tense and focused on him. He had a feeling that if his heartbeat was off slightly, she would know.

He grinned. She was playing chess, it seemed.

"How do you know Shakespeare? You barely speak English."

"Fuck off."

"No thanks. I prefer older women."

"I'm sure. They're easier to please, will take anythin' that'll throw isself at 'em."

His lips twitched as she taunted him with her faked accent. She was close to finishing her plate, and he was sure she was shoving the food in her face for more than one reason.

"I suppose I'll have to make one up, then."

She paused, looking up at him and scowling. She swallowed her bite before saying, "Just call me M for mechanic. And you know you've never given me yours. I know it, but that's kinda rude, don't'cha think?"

He leaned his head against the wall of the sub, book on his lap as he watched her carefully. She was clearly looking for something from him, he just couldn't for the life of him figure out what.

"Why'd you get those tattoos on your hands?"

He frowned. His tattoos?

He shrugged. "There was a tattoo artist in town, and I liked his work. He did the ones on my back and chest, too."

"You've got more of those ugly things?"

He paused, struggling to keep his tone even. "Are you _trying_ to pick a fight?"

Her gaze matched his for intensity, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then she re-wrapped her now completely clean plate and utensils, placing them on the deck in front of her.

"I'll get to work now."

Law blinked, feeling for some reason like he'd lost this round instead of winning. He sighed. It didn't feel like he'd ever understand this woman.

It seemed like she was working inside the ship today, as she jumped off the deck and soon returned with a tool box. She walked by Law, and he could tell she was eying him as much as he was eying her, even if her eyes stayed focused on the hallway in front of her.

"Do you need me to show—"

"Bepo did last night. Do what you want, just don't get in my way, Trafalgar Law."

And with that, she disappeared into the depths of the ship. Law brought up a knee to rest his elbow on, and faced towards the darkness of the warehouse as he once again tried to piece together the puzzle that was his new mechanic.

—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—

The rest of the night was uneventful. He did not see her again except in brief passing and did not hear much of anything either. Law ended up attending to his Freezer in his frustration, taking out an old corpse and fiddling with it before finishing off his night on reports, planning, and some training in the training room.

Finally, it was dawn. Law sighed. He was antsy, and desperately wanted some coffee. Perhaps a nap, as well. He left the warehouse without bothering M and used his powers to return to the same coffee and seal-bun stand as before.

Only this time it was different. The lady, an older woman who was previously happy to serve him, visibly paled when she saw him. He stopped in his approach when he saw her backing away and the slight shake of her head. Law's eyes narrowed, but he got the message and left to get his morning coffee elsewhere. Clearly the woman had only just realized who he was. Rather than make a fuss, as he was already irritable and tired, it was better to just find food elsewhere.

After finding a takoyaki stand for breakfast and another for coffee, Law soon returned to the warehouse. There was the mechanic, rubbing her eyes clearly as exhausted as he was. He frowned.

"You should get some rest. Clearly, you're working some other job during the day, but if you keep doing this you'll kill yourself. The human body can't live without sleep any more than it can live without water.

She glared at him, but the glare dissipated as she stared at the breakfast in his hands. He fought a grin. Must be a favorite of hers then.

She spoke softly. "I'm resting just fine."

"Right. Here's breakfast, and some coffee if you want it."

After her usual moment, she accepted the drink and food from his hands before disappearing somewhere. He sighed, before going onto the deck of the polar tang to drink his coffee and read in morning light.

A moment later, a cup appeared in front of his face. He blinked, looking into the scowling face of M.

"… You're a doctor. Even you should know you need more than just coffee. You need water, too."

After a moment's hesitation, he accepted the cup of water from her hand. Surprisingly, it was rather warm. She must have been heating up some water while he was getting breakfast.

"This is surprisingly thoughtful of you."

"Fuck off."

"And there's the mechanic I know."

She glared again before turning around. "I'm leaving. See you tonight."

"Take care."

Without another word, she disappeared. Law drank the water she'd given him, and was surprised at how clean and pure it tasted. It reminded him of the mountain water from back home.

Another day, another mystery.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ow!" whined Samei. Law grinned at the young man without pausing in administering first aid. After another moment of rubbing the anti-biotics onto the scratch on the young man's cheek, Law stepped away and began writing on the clipboard with Samei's patient records.

"You'll be fine, luckily. Just a few bruises." From behind him, Law heard a sigh of relief. Putting the clipboard back down onto his desk in the infirmary, Law crossed his arms and studied the blonde in front of him.

Samei was the newest and youngest member of the Heart pirates. He'd had a complicated past and was no stranger to violent situations, particularly since he had the same fascination with dead bodies as Law did. On top of his regular duties as chore boy, Samei often got to play with Law's leftovers as Law slowly taught him some of the principals of medicine. He was more than a chore boy, but less than an apprentice.

But still, his background just made this not right.

"So. You got jumped."

There was a blush on his cheeks as Samei's dejected and ashamed gaze glued itself to the floor. Law waited a moment, taking in every minute muscle twitch. Luckily, although Samei was many things, he was an awful liar.

"… Yeah… I… uh… might've had a drink… or four…"

Law's eyes narrowed. His crew had strict orders when it came to debauchery. They were paired up, and took turns with letting loose. One night it would be one person's turn, the next night the other person. This allowed his crew the freedom to party without inhibitions, while still being aware of the fact that they were wanted men.

That being said, Samei's partner was Quilo, who was working on obtaining information for Law. "It was not your turn to drink."

The blush only increased in intensity, as his ears turned a nice bright red. The boy began stuttering out a mumbled excuse.

"You were having sex, weren't you?"

And that's when Samei froze, guiltily catching Law's eye before returning his gaze to the floor. Law shook his head.

"Make sure you use protection when you do so. I don't need you leaving a string of children behind or catching god-knows-what from whoever you choose to keep as a bed partner."

"Y-yes, sir."

"And no more wining and dining with a partner unless you have one of the crew with you – honestly you should know better."

He nodded once, just the barest shake of his head. Law figured that he was done embarrassing the boy.

"You're confined to the ship until it's repairs are finished for being drunk on the job. I don't need you causing any more trouble while we're here, and since no one is on the ship besides you and me and Ms. M, you can clean it from top to bottom until not a spec of dirt remains."

"… Ms. M?"

Law crossed his arms, raising a single eyebrow at the tiny spark in Samei's eye. "Down, boy. She's the mechanic fixing the hull."

Samei blinked. "Our mechanic is a girl?"

"Woman, actually, don't let her size fool you – she could probably punch a hole through your stomach."

Samei's eyes went wide. Law dismissed him to begin his cleaning, and called Bepo to get him to bring Samei's things from the hotel back down to the sub. To be honest, this killed two birds with one stone. One more crew member for Ms. M to get used to, and no chance that the same thugs that beat up Samei would find him again. Law sighed. He couldn't believe that the young man had been jumped so easily.

That left a few possibilities.

Option number one, it was a fluke. He'd clearly been at least a little intoxicated in more ways than one – Law still remembered losing his virginity. Depending on the partner, it was a rather intoxicating experience. That combined with any alcohol consumed would definitely factor into the young man losing his senses. It was possible he bumped into some men who, like with Minnow, worked for the local mafia and felt some sort of entitlement. In which case it would have been a coincidence.

Option number two, he was targeted by coincidence. His crew members all wore the same boiler suit, so it was easy to identify them. If they were in the same local mafia as the men that jumped Minnow, it was possible that they saw the uniform as Samei was wandering in a daze and jumped him to teach him a lesson instead.

Option number three, he was targeted from the beginning. The woman he had been with could have slipped him something and set him up to be attacked. There were a plethora of reasons she might do that – maybe it was a husband or lover that set him up. Maybe the woman worked with the mafia. Maybe someone just didn't like Samei's sweet and innocent looking face.

Law snorted, as he knew the exact circumstances that led to Samei joining his crew. Sweet and innocent, indeed.

If it was option one, Law would want to put some minimal effort into retaliating. After all, someone had attacked his crew member. That would damage his reputation that he was working very hard to garner. If it was option two, he would put all his efforts into retaliating – but not yet. Too soon and there would be no escape if it turned into an all-out war between his crew and the local mafia group, plus it might scare off his easily startled mechanic.

Then again, his "easily startled mechanic" didn't seem perturbed when he'd insinuated killing people before.

Option three would be much the same as option two, but with the added benefit of slowly torturing a young woman and the added headache of making sure that Samei took more care in partner selection. Knowing the young man, he would blame himself for years. Meaning years of no sex for him, and Law having to deal with a young man already suffering the end of his puberty with pent up sexual frustration.

Law reached out for the den den mushi again and called Quilo this time. He was going to have to add one more thing onto his list of things to investigate.

—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—/—

Law tried to relax on the deck with his book, but he was quickly becoming frustrated.

Quilo had found nothing substantial about M. One of his local contacts on the island (as Quilo seemed to have at least one on every island) only stated that she was bad news and that Quilo should stop asking. It was like an information tease. In a way, it told Law a great deal, but again nothing was concrete. No one else on the island knew her.

His crew also reported getting looks of fear from shopkeepers who were formerly friendly, which was making Law suspect that the local mob had more power than he'd initially suspected. He'd thought the woman yesterday had found out about _his_ bounty and reputation, but he now thought that maybe it was because she had found out that his crew had pissed off the mafia.

Again, it was all just theories, coincidences, and suspicions.

Was Samei targeted and attacked? If so, was it the mafia? Was it bounty hunters? Who was M?

And goddamnit it, if Shachi and Penguin did not shut up –

"HA! You lose. Give up your sock!"

Law groaned. Shachi and Penguin had insisted on staying behind after they had inspected her work this afternoon. Supposedly, they wanted to ask her questions about what she had done, and see if she could help them solve the heating problem on the sub. They had roped Samei into a game of cards while they waited for M, which had quickly turned into a loud game of strip poker. His assistant mechanics were currently sitting in their boxers while Samei had an innocent smile and a smug gleam in his eye.

Initially, Law had been against this. But rather than tell them no, he had weighed his options and gone with the order that they were less likely to disobey.

They were to give her space and focus on making slow movements. Law informed them that she spooked easily without going into details. Despite being obnoxious and a bit self-obsessed, Shachi and Penguin were trustworthy crew members. So Law took a leap of faith.

True to their word, they stayed seated on the floor, a box of donuts opened and half eaten next to them and a plate with another wrapped meal from Couri set apart from the group. Law checked his watch. The sun had already gone down for the evening, so the young woman should be here any moment.

"This is not what we negotiated, Trafalgar Law."

Law didn't move from his spot, nor did he look up from his book. He was hoping that he hadn't jumped. He snuck a glance at his crew, but they had not noticed their guest had arrived.

"We negotiated that you would fix my ship in seven days for 500,000 beris. There was nothing saying that I couldn't visit my home in the meantime."

Law paused, slowly putting his book down and looking at his crew pointedly.

"The one with the clothes on got jumped by some local thugs. He didn't seem to think much of it, and it might have been a fluke, but I'd rather that he stay out of harm's way."

She didn't say anything, so Law turned to look at her. Whatever she had been thinking, she had long since buried it, keeping her scowling mask in place on her face. Law smirked at her.

"The other two are blown away by your work and wanted to learn a bit from you."

The scowl slipped slightly, and a blush returned.

"Tomorrow it'll just be you, me, and Bepo."

She nodded, cracking her knuckles and shifting slightly on her feet, clearly uncomfortable.

Taking the nod as his cue, Law turned towards the three amigos. "Men, say hello. M, your food is over there. Feel free to eat any leftover donuts as well."

Shachi waved jovially while Penguin loudly lamented the loss of his last sock. The only thing he had left was his underwear, meaning he was out of the game (Law had already told them that they were prohibited from stripping naked and terrifying M). Glancing at her now, she seemed unfazed at their lack of clothing.

Another thing to file away.

The scowl on her face deepened as she inched just close enough to get the plate of food.

"Excuse me, Ms. M," started Shachi, "we were just wondering if we could watch you today."

Penguin nodded his assent, and both politely and quietly waited for her to respond.

M hesitated, and then picked up her plate. Law could tell from her posture that her guard was up.

"Oh," Shachi continued, "and we're sorry about scaring you last time. Bepo got really mad at us for scaring you. Captain only let us stay today because we promised to be good, and promised to leave if you were uncomfortable."

Her scowl turned to a glare. "Damn straight I'm dammed uncomfortable. What the fuck do ya think following me is gonna do? Teach you to fucking weld?"

"Uh… Well..."

Penguin took over. "We were hoping we could pick your brain on the matter of the heating system."

She scoffed. "If you mean the fact that this thing turns into a sauna underwater, then no. A fix like that doesn't come for free, nor cheap. That's a fucking big deal."

Law blinked. That was interesting. As far as he was aware, no one had told her about the issue with the heating. She was even smarter than he gave her credit for.

"Well," began Penguin, "we were Krill's assistants, so we can at least be an extra pair of hands. And… well, we of course hope you'd join us, but if you don't then maybe following you around will teach me and Shachi enough to keep the Tang safe and well until we find a lead mechanic."

Law almost felt like the air dropped in temperature. A glare of ice turned towards him.

"… That's your plan? Butter me up and then ask me to be a mechanic on your damned ship?"

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

Double shits.

He hadn't anticipated this. Law's thoughts raced for a moment. Clearly, she was expecting underhandedness from him. She was probably also expecting him to trick her into something. Kindness is unfamiliar to her, and he'd made the mistake of being too kind.

Time to back things up.

He returned her glare. "Bepo has taken a liking to you. You can fix my ship when no one else on this thrice-cursed island can. I've lost a damned good friend and a better mechanic than you can ever be. Has the thought of asking you to join our crew passed my mind? Damn straight. But there's no 'buttering' you up. You're doing the job I'm paying you to do, nothing more, nothing less. I've told them not to scare you because you're too goddamn jumpy, and if you bail me and my entire crew are fucked. Get off your goddamn high horse, _Mechanic_. If at the end of this week you fancy the pirate life, _then_ we can negotiate. Otherwise don't bother me about the fact that my crew happens to like you. Don't forget it for a moment – they've killed before, and they'll kill again in a heartbeat."

With that, he stood up. There was fear back in her eyes again, but she clearly was back in more familiar territory. Law glared at his crew members.

"Penguin, you're in charge. I'm gonna go kill people."

Penguin giggled nervously.

Without another word, Law started twirling his scalpel in his hand so that she could see it, and teleported himself out of the warehouse.

With any luck, he just convinced her that he wasn't a good guy, but that he was a reasonable one. Meaning he just convinced her that everything between them in just another transaction. It was strange that she took comfort in that.

He thought to himself as he began wandering the streets for a victim to take his frustrations out on, keeping to the Black Market district to decrease the chance of his victim being an innocent. While Law was by no means a good man, he did take some care into basic rules of conduct. His victims were in some way guilty themselves or had chosen a life where they put their lives on the line. He wasn't overly fond of rape, and strongly discouraged it among his men (who luckily enough were vehemently against it). He avoided children when possible.

She hadn't seemed surprised when he turned cold to her. She knew his name, and probably had at least some inkling as to his bounty and reputation, so that made sense. It was strange, however, that she was taking comfort in his darkness. As if that was familiar to her, while kindness was strange. And there was the fact that she was unperturbed by practically naked men.

This new discovery brought to light a new, chilling possibility.

It was possible that she was involved with the mafia.

He could be wrong, of course. Without all the facts it was possible that he was entirely mistaken. She might not be involved with them at all, she could just live with a hermit on the other side of town that beat her or something, like he'd initially suspected. A person who lived for a long time seeing the darker side of others might assume that they were all like that and get uncomfortable with kindness as she did.

Then again, mafias often worked with backstabbing, smiling and feigned kindness in order to advance personal gain. She would suspect a Law that was being nice to her as someone that could turn on her at any moment until he proved that she meant nothing more to him than a pawn would.

If she was with this local group…

It might be the same group Law was now sure had attacked Samei last night.

The question was, if this played out how he expected, it could turn out into a full-out war between himself and this mafia.

If that happened, where would her loyalties lie?

/././././././././././././././././././././././././././././

Please review. :)


	6. Chapter 6

She was late.

The sun had gone down an hour and a half ago. Law sat on the deck of the submarine, his patience wearing thin, his book boring, and his coffee cold.

At least the ship was clean. The tuckered out Samei was fast asleep in his bed in the crew's dormitory, as Samei had spent a good portion of today removing barnacles and cleaning the ship. Law had spent most of his time playing with a present gifted by Quilo. Quilo had not taken kindly to Samei being jumped, especially since Samei was his responsibility. So he'd grabbed one of the men who had jumped Samei, and brought him to Law's operating theater. The others he murdered in their beds.

This meant Law had at least gotten to spend most of the day earlier torturing the greasy man. It seemed that the man had very low levels of loyalty in the face of Law's games and spilled a lot of valuable information. Finally, Law had some intel on the local mob.

It seems that Minnow had not fought a low-level thug. Rather, he'd managed to punch the mob boss son's personal bodyguard. It was not enough of a blow to warrant more than a retaliation, but their idea of a retaliation was to target as many of Law's crew members as possible. They hadn't gotten the opportunity, unfortunately, and the mob boss's son was getting rather frustrated with the fact that he hadn't been able to land a decisive hit on Law's crew, nor scare them into submission. Which meant that he was targeting all citizens who were helping Law's crew. Which explained why shop keepers and bartenders were no longer thrilled with their presence.

Judging by the man that he had slowly tortured to death all afternoon, Law wasn't worried about his crew surviving retaliation. He didn't particularly like that they were targeting innocent civilians, but it also was not his main concern. And the man had not recognized the sketch of Ms. M either, which meant that it was possible his hunch about her possible mafia ties could be wrong.

Could be.

But he didn't know for sure.

And there was the fact that she was late. She hadn't been late before.

And the mafia was targeting civilians.

If anyone had figured out that she was working for them somehow… It was possible that any number of people could have leaked that information out. From there, the mafia might scare her away from fixing his ship. Law could fix that.

Or they could kill her and then Law would be sunk. No amount of killing would fix a dead mechanic.

He sighed, rubbing his temples and standing up. He was going to take a walk around the docks in this dilapidated old warehouse, and maybe after he was done she would magically appear with a reasonable excuse, and his worrying would be for nothing.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and Law froze. Inwardly, he cursed himself for leaving his beloved sword safely stowed away in his office. Instead, he gripped the scalpel in his hand, using his other to start creating a room. He squinted in the dim light of the warehouse for the source of the noise until he saw a glow from the other end of his ship.

There, on the tail end of his ship, was his mechanic. He dropped the room and felt his eyebrows twitching in annoyance. The bitch really needed to stop sneaking up on him. Returning his scalpel to his pocket, he took this opportunity to watch her work.

She was hanging from the ceiling in a sling, touching the metal on the tail of the Tang. Law blinked, as he realized that the metal was bright red.

She was molding it. With her hands.

He blinked again, and then realized he must have been imagining it. There was the sound of a hammer going, and no one could touch red hot metal without a devil fruit. Bepo had already reported that she was swimming on that first night, so there was no way that she had eaten one.

Law approached, just close enough that she could hear him without him having to shout at her.

"You're late."

The hammering stopped.

"… I got caught up."

Law raised an eyebrow. No swearing? Law scanned her body, taking in every inch. Something seemed off. There was a stiffness to her movements, and she was sitting slightly off-center, not as comfortable as two nights ago.

"… Uh-huh. Couri made your dinner again. Bepo will join you in a couple of hours."

She nodded without looking back at him, and the hammering began again. Law sighed.

"Ms. M, I'm not about to tell you to do your job, but your dinner has already been out for several hours and I'm not one to waste food."

The hammering stopped again. From this distance he could see that her shoulders were drooped, but he couldn't tell much more.

Something was seriously wrong. He thought quickly, carefully crafting his words for a moment before he spoke. She scared if he was too kind, and scared if he was too cruel. It was irritating that he had walk on eggshells, but if he was lucky… Damnit, he already knew she was worth twice her weight in gold.

Law sighed loudly. "Look, I don't know what's bothering you, and I honestly don't give a shit. So long as me and mine are safe, and the job gets done, I have no complaints. In two more days you'll get your money and we'll part ways."

He paused for a moment, assessing her. Her shoulders were still drooped. He spoke again, trying to keep his tone even. "Having said that, I am a doctor. If you are ill, say so. You're my responsibility for two more days, after all."

Her shoulders stiffened. "I'm no one's goddamned responsibility."

Hm. That contradicted the image Law had built up around this young woman.

"That's nice and all, but your favoring your left shoulder. Since your left handed, that's a problem."

She turned. The tight curls that were rarely ever tamed seemed to hide her face a little, but Law could clearly see the shadow of a bruise on her cheek. His eyes narrowed.

"… Come down and eat, and I'll put some balm on that bruise. Doctor's orders."

With that, Law turned on his heels and stalked towards his infirmary. She'd been hurt, and hurt bad. The question was, who hurt her?

If it was her abuser, then there was nothing for Law to do. She'd either escape her abuser with them at the end of the week or remain behind and be stuck in the cycle until she died. However, if it had been the mob, then Law would not be allowing her to leave again, even if he had to kidnap her tonight. She was too goddamn valuable to risk.

Then again, if she was somehow involved with the mob, then she could have been hit as a test of loyalty. Maybe she had taken his side, and they'd hit her. Maybe they had gotten information out of her – guilt would certainly explain the stiff shoulders.

On his way back out, he grabbed a den den mushi and his nodachi. Juggling those and a first-aid kit, he opened the door to the deck of the sub.

There she was, sitting cross legged in front of a plate of salmon and rice. She eyed the sword, but Law ignored her suspicions. Clearly, she trusted him enough to follow instructions.

He sat down, placing the sword and den den mushi next to him before opening the first aid kit. He put on some rubber gloves as he began speaking to her.

"I'm assuming that bruise on your cheek is not your only one."

She said nothing, only looking in plain confusing at the first aid kit. Law glanced at it, before eyeing her again, dropping his now-gloved hands into his lap.

"Don't tell me, you've never seen a first-aid kit?"

She glared at him, but didn't say anything.

"I'll assume that means yes." He pulled out the balm he had for bruises, a rather neat recipe he'd helped to develop before he was expelled from university for using human test subjects. He leaned forward to examine the bruise before rubbing a little onto the bruise.

"This will sting, but it'll be mostly healed by morning. If we put more on it tomorrow, it'll be gone in two days."

She didn't say anything, so Law continued. "Don't get yourself into trouble. You're too goddamned valuable to die in the streets."

She snorted. "Only for two more days."

Law smirked. "Well that depends. As my ships mechanic, you'd hold the permanent position of being too goddamned valuable to die in the streets, instead of temporarily."

Law could tell wheels were turning in her head again, but not in which way. This was just one of those moments that she was too hard to read.

He closed the lid for the balm, placing it back in the kit. He reached out to grab her arm, and she jerked reflexively out of his touch. Law paused for a moment, before glaring lightly at her.

"May I remind you, Ms. M, that I am a doctor."

"And a fucking murderer."

"I prefer to keep fucking and murdering separate."

She glared at him, but he grabbed her arm anyway. There was a wince of pain from her, and Law deftly used his fingers to assess the movements in the joint.

"I'm going to pull your overalls off just enough to expose your shou—"

That was all he got out before she wrenched from his grip, managing to jump backwards in an instant and somehow land behind the railing, hanging on to the sub with her right arm. Law held still for a moment, before dropping his chin onto his hand.

"Ah, Ms. M. It's rather hard to treat your shoulder from all the way over there."

There was no glare this time, rather the gleam of terror in her eyes, like a wild animal cornered into a cage. Her chest was heaving, and her pupils dilated.

Law hadn't expected this. Him touching her wasn't the trigger… removing clothes was? Was it sexual abuse she suffered, like he feared?

No. It couldn't be. This was all kinds of wrong. This woman was faster than he was, stealthier, far stronger than the average man and yet she was clearly beaten up by _someone_.

He sighed heavily. "Fine, have it your way. It's clear you've torn something in your shoulder, there might even be a hairline fracture that will only get worse. I'd recommend not lifting with it, but I can't give you a proper diagnosis from here." He stood up. "I'll get you some ice for it while you eat. Try not to hurt yourself for the next two days. Use the den den mushi to contact me if you get beaten again."

With that, Law picked up his nodachi and returned to the sub. He needed to leave her alone for a little while if he was to win her back. Grabbing some ice from the kitchen first, Law left it out the front door for her before he returned to his office. He was damned tired of this cat and mouse game with her.

Grabbing another den den mushi, he called Quilo.

"Yes, Cap'n?"

"Tomorrow, I need you to follow our mechanic. It seems someone decided to take their frustrations out on her."

The was a moment of silence before Quilo asked, "You think it was the mob?"

Law hesitated for a moment. "… I'm not sure. She's not telling. I can't even tell the extent of her injuries."

Quilo whistled. "You just _had_ to pick the hard one, didn't'cha?"

Law grinned. "I like puzzles almost as much as I hate surprises."

"I guess I'll cancel the surprise threeway I planned for your birthday. I'll get you a mother-fucking puzzle instead."

Law chuckled. "She leaves at first light usually. Good luck."

With that, Law hung up on his weapons master, and the crossed his arms. He needed to review the facts.

She was around eighteen years old. She was clearly underfed. Her master had died years ago. She spooked easily, was a master mechanic of the highest caliber, picked up five-hundred pound plates easily, snuck up on both him and Bepo despite their observation haki… It was as if she could suppress her presence. If she had that level of control, it might explain the strength she exhibited. But again, if she was a haki master, then what the hell could've possibly hurt her.

Law shook his head. It was possible he was over-thinking it. She could be subconsciously suppressing her presence. Yeah, that made sense. After all, Shachi had had observational haki for years before he ever became consciously aware of it.

Why didn't she leave, then? The port here was hardly inactive. There were plenty of ships docking weekly. Even if she couldn't afford passage, she was clever and stealthy enough to sneak on to any one of those ships. Then again, she was potentially in an abusive relationship with someone, and abused people were rarely rational…

Law eyes narrowed. No one on this island knew her. It was possible that she came here recently, not that she lived here as he initially assumed. Certainly her hair, skin, and eyes did not match the native population. Most of those here were white, with fair hair and light-colored eyes, not brown, brown, and brown with a dash of freckles. Altogether, she looked a little out of place.

And then there was her reactions to him treating her. It was as if she'd never been to a doctor before. She seemed to be completely unfamiliar with procedure. Even stranger was her belief that she wasn't anyone's responsibility. Was the abuser a parent? That was possible.

Another thought circled Law's head for a moment – if she clearly had a day job, why did she need the money? The price she asked for was rather exorbitant. While Law was not one to complain after seeing the quality it came with, that amount was enough to purchase passage on ships for several years and live quite comfortably while doing so. Hell, it was even enough to...

Law practically fell into his sofa as a realization slammed into him.

What if she wasn't working for the mafia?

Joker had weapons made here. Top class weapons. The grunt had blathered a lot about it before Law finally allowed the man to die. And the mafia oversaw the manufacturing of those weapons. Weapons that could only be made by someone with skills that were beyond normal mechanical engineering.

Joker. He had his hands in a lot of businesses. Anything illicit or illegal, you were sure to find him involved somehow. Drugs, weapons, slaves…

It was possible that she wasn't working for the mafia.

It was possible that she was _owned_ by the mafia.


End file.
